Underground
by NanaMii148
Summary: Arthur was a hard man to deal with and he knew it. He could be jealous, violent, pretentious, stubborn, sarcastic, oversensitive, moody, short-tempered, impatient and inflexible. But when he met an unpredictable, overly romantic and cocky 19 year-old boy in the underground he didn't know that cheater could also be added to that list
1. Chapter 1

**LITTLE NOTE : The first chapter is kind of slow at the beginning and doesn't have much dialogue in it but I promise you that it will change after haha! Just to not scare some people :P (I know it would scare me xD) Oh and there will be some M-rated chapters but I will just put a warning at the beginning of the chapters who have some M-rated content since there won't be all that much :) (Well at least I think there won't be all that much x'D) Enjoy!  
**

The underground was surprisingly empty every Tuesday at 10 in the morning. Arthur was blaming this on people's schedule that was forcing them to go to work at an early hour. He rather enjoyed to be blessed with a moment of silence every Tuesday. It was becoming horribly rare lately. Arthur felt like the only thing he had been hearing for the past few years were screams, his or Francis's take your pick, students' untimely chatting and the sound of doors slammed and walls punched. He closed his eyes and sighed, enjoying this moment of peacefulness.

Thinking about it, it was rather pathetic that his only moment of peace was waiting in the underground, hidden from the world in an ugly and stinky place. He wondered when his life had become so ridiculously sad and monotonous.

His train of thoughts was cut off by the resounding train arriving. When it stopped its course, Arthur stepped into the machine to take his usual seat next to the window. It wasn't like there was a lot to see at the window but it was always more pleasant to watch the dark walls than old senile ladies or perverted single men in their late thirties.

When his eyes scanned the passengers in the train, he was met with familiar faces. There were some new faces here and there, but there were some recurrent passengers. Arthur liked to imagine what their lives were like based on their face and attitude.

First there was Grumpy-Old-Lady-Face. She was always wearing pink parkas and wool sweaters. Her hair were really short, blonde and curly, like a sheep that had just been sheared. Grumpy-Old-Lady-Face had the oddest mouth he had ever seen; it was like someone had pinned the extremities of her mouth to her chin. She constantly had a grumpy look on her face. In Arthur's head, she was getting old and was abandoned by her children and grandchildren who had better things to do than hang out with their grandmother.

Secondly, you could find every Tuesday morning Mr. I'm-Still-A-Teenager-In-My-Head. He always wore baggy jeans, big jackets, looked like he was in his mid-thirty, was obviously abusing of McDonald's hamburgers, always frowning, had a bit of a beard and was constantly cursing at a game he was playing on his phone. Arthur was sure that he was the kind of guy that found he was doing "the cool thing" but that no one actually appreciated.

Third came the dignified middle-class Asian. Arthur didn't know how even poor Asian people could always look so classy. He had slim glasses, a skinny body, always looking at the window and his bag on his laps. He was probably still at university. He had a composed attitude, almost noble. He was probably the kind of person that had A-grades everywhere but was still modest and trying his best for his entourage.

Then there was Cat-Man. He always had cat hair glued to his clothes and was saluting everyone whenever he would enter the machine. Every time he would step in, wave at everyone, laboriously walk towards a seat, smile for a good couple of minutes and then realize that he had cat hair on his clothes again. Then, he would apologize about it to the passengers, even though nobody cared, and start taking them off. He was probably a lonely man who craved for company.

And lastly, there was Handsome-But-Weird guy that started taking the train every Tuesday morning 2 month ago and kept drawing something Arthur could never see. He had honey blond hair, sky blue eyes, a muscular body and looked like he had just gone out of high school. And damn, he was fine. But he always had that annoying smirk and that cocky attitude that made Arthur want to punch him in the face.

And he was also beyond frustrated to not know what the man was drawing every Tuesday morning. Now he knew how to respect someone's privacy, the point wasn't here. He just didn't like not knowing something at all. You see, he only liked mysteries if he knew how to solve them and, obviously, that case wasn't solved.

The blonde man looked up from his drawing and locked his eyes on Arthur's who straightened up and quickly looked away, frowning and looking back at the window. He thought he had seen the man smirk but decided to not check, keeping his gaze fixed on the window.

When he arrived at the right station, Arthur stepped out of the train, followed by the drawer. His face creased up a bit at the sight of the annoying blonde going in the same direction as him. The man never got off the train at that station, why was it bloody different today?

Maybe he was a stalker or a pervert.

He shivered at the thought.

_Wait. No. Calm down Arthur. You're being ridiculous. You're a composed, mature and grown-up man. You do not imagine silly things such as a rapist stalking you in the underground at 10 in the morning. That's it, a 24 years old grown-up man. Something probably happened and made him get off the train at this particular station. I do not need to worry. There is absolutely nothing to be-!_

Lost in his thoughts he hadn't seen the man in front of in and bumped head first on his back, making various books and papers fall on the floor. _Fuck,_ he thought. The man angrily told him to watch where he was going before heading out, making Arthur curse under his breath and display a half-hidden middle finger. People were so rude in the morning.

He kneeled down to pick up his belongings that were scattered on the floor when a pair of large hands joined his thin ones. An intrigued Arthur looked up only to find piercing blue eyes and a forever-cocky smile directed at him. The Englishman stepped back a bit, narrowing his eyes in mistrust.

"English teacher huh?" he asked, handing him a textbook for 11th grade students.

Too busy asking himself why the very man that intrigued him so badly had helped him out of all the people in the underground, Arthur took a long time to process the question.

If he was an English teacher? How did he-! Oh yes, the textbook.

He opened his mouth to answer but something held his words back. Oh God what if he really was a stalker? Maybe he shouldn't tell him that he works as an English teacher. That would be like a sheep running in a wolf's mouth.

_No. Arthur you've been over this. You're a grown-up man. _

And maybe if he hadn't been too occupied by his own thoughts, he would have noticed the blonde American slipping Arthur's phone in his pocket.

"Yes." He finally admitted, picking up the last textbook. "Now if you'll excuse me." He said before grabbing his bag and leaving promptly.

The drawer watched the figure of the Englishman walk away in haste. Then he took out the phone from his pocket and snickered at the old-looking phone. Did people still buy those antiquities? That guy surely was a special man. He remembered the name written on the notebooks.

"Arthur Kirkland huh?" he repeated softly, a smug smile glued to his face, looking at some invisible point in the air. He stayed there for a couple of minutes, like he was processing some capital information, before turning on his heels and glance a last time at the old phone he was holding in his hands. This was going to be fun.

* * *

Arthur opened the door with his foot roughly; his arms too busy carrying bags from the grocery store. A white and ginger cat came running to his master, purring and rubbing against his master's leg.

"Oh hello there" the young man said, putting the bags on the counter and grabbing his cat. "How are you doing? You should eat something. I swear, you're getting lighter every day!" the Englishman diagnosed before scratching his cat's ear, who only purred even more at the attention and rubbed his head on his master's neck. Arthur chuckled lightly at the movement. "Hey that tickles!" he let out before putting the cat next to the bags on the counter. He took out cat food of the first bag, opened it and pushed it towards his cat. "Here." He said with a smile. "And I expect you to _actually_ eat it." He added with a smirk. The cat meowed in disapproval and started eating grudgingly.

The blonde started taking out the content of the bags in the shelves or in the fridge, checking from time to time on his cat. A long-haired elegant white cat emerged in the room, smelling food and sitting next to Arthur's legs, very obviously expecting him to feed her. In front of Arthur's indifference the gracious cat meowed with clear irritation in her voice and when the man finally looked down he frowned at his boyfriend's pompous cat. "Yes Paris, you will have your food too, don't look at me like that."

The cat rose her little nose arrogantly, apparently not pleased to be kept waiting. The Englishman just rolled his eyes and placed a small plate full of pate cat food. That cat was so exhausting to take care of with her manners and her arrogant attitude. She was so similar to her master sometimes.

At the sight of the clock, he remembered that he had to call Elizabeta and started to reach out for his phone in his pocket. He frowned when his hand met an empty pocket. He was almost sure that he had put it there. Perhaps he had put it in his bag. But after having searched at least 7 times in it, he still couldn't find his phone. When he remembered that, after he had spent a whole afternoon searching for his phone, Francis had told him that he could call his cell phone with their house's phone to find it more quickly, he reached out for the said object.

When he typed his phone number he heard the few usual beeps but couldn't hear his phone's ringtone anywhere near him. Maybe he had made it fall at work? But just when he was about to hang up, a man's voice answered the phone.

"Well hello there gorgeous, I thought you would never call." the man on the other end of the line said, leaving a dumbfounded Arthur. When the man's words finally sank into Arthur's mind, a scowled replaced his surprised expression and he answered angrily.

"Who the bloody hell are you! And why do you have my phone!"

"Bloody?" He heard the man snicker. "Someone's British. And why would I not have your phone? I mean, I'm not the one who doesn't even notice that a stranger who helped him pick up his stuff in the underground took his phone in the process."

Before he could argue that he was "English" and not "British", his last sentence echoed in his mind. The underground? Helping him pick up his stuff?

"You!" the Englishman exclaimed, finally remembering the drawer. "You wanker! I'm going to kick your sorry arse! Why would you take my bloody phone you sodding git!"

"Calm down with all the British cursing, you're-!"

"English!"

"Okay fine, fine, English, whatever." He could feel in his voice that the man was rolling his eyes. "And is it so unusual for someone to steal another person's phone? Even though I could really have gone for something better, I swear it's like your phone dates back from the Paleolithic era. It doesn't even have internet."

"If you dislike my _antiquity _so much why would you take it?" Arthur answered dryly, clearly irritated.

"Because this _antiquity _happens to have a pretty sexy owner."

"Where the bloody hell do you think you're going with all the-!" the angry Englishman started to rant before being cut abruptly by the drawer.

"I have a deal for you pretty blonde."

There was a pregnant pause where both of them kept quiet, a puzzled scowl finding its way on Arthur's face.

"And why would I even want to make a deal with you?" he asked cautiously, crossing his arms in a defensive manner.

"To have your Paleolithic antiquity back? Because of my irresistible charm?"

"Not to mention fictional." Arthur added dryly while the other man just snickered briefly.

"You don't know that yet." He answered, sounding absolutely delighted to play and tease the Englishman and Arthur was almost sure that if the man had been in front of him he would have winked.

"Yes I do. And what is your bloody deal?"

"Go on a date with me."

_Oh that was it_, Arthur thought before hanging up roughly.

**A/N :**

**This story has been stuck in my head FOR MONTHS. I really needed to write it down! But school is hectic this year and it has become natural for me to not sleep just to do homework. So I will probably be kind of a slow updater ^^' I will really try to do my best if you like this story but I can't promise you mountains of gold and sheeps made out of rainbows. (Just… Don't bother with my strange expressions x'D) **

**I just LOVE a cocky and arrogant Alfred x) And Grumpy-Old-Lady-Face is an old woman that actually takes the same bus than I do sometimes when I come back from school :P**

**Thanks for reading, I love you! :D (And sorry for the mistakes you may find! I don't have a beta and English isn't my native language! :P I feel like I'm shoving this down people's throats but well… x') I kind of need to say it) Lots of hugs and kisses~! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

_The man had some nerves to steal his phone and then ask him out on a date, _Arthur thought, angrily tossing the phone on the couch and heading towards the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea. What kind of twisted mind would deliberately steal another person's phone to ask him out on a date! Who did he thought he was to act like an absolute prick and take everything for granted!

He grabbed his cup of tea and sat down on his couch roughly, crossing arms and legs. He was still going to need his phone back. It wasn't because he was terrible with technology that he didn't need to make phone calls now and then when he was outside of his house! He groaned in frustration, taking a sip of his cup of tea. He should have just kicked his ass when he had the occasion to!

And anyway, how dare he call him things like "gorgeous" or "pretty blonde"! They hadn't even talked to each other before and he could hardly imagine that the few times they had glanced at each other in the train were allowing him to talk in such a familiar way!

Arthur was practically fuming in his seat when he remembered that the accident on the phone made him forget to call Elizabeta. He put his cup of tea on the table and grabbed his phone, dialing Elizabeta's phone number. After a few beeps, an energetic girl's voice answered.

"Hey Arthur! How are you?"

"I've known better days." He growled. "Are you still going to this boxing madness or can we see each other tomorrow?" the Briton asked with a sigh, sinking farther into his seat.

Arthur would never understand his friend's passion for boxing. To him boxing was just a sport where two guys were trying to kill each other with red gloves but to her it was fascinating. Arthur instantly rolled his eyes at the memory of the hours and hours wasted on listening to the girl's rant on the latest boxing game she had to arbitrate. Elizabeta was one of the few women to be a boxing referee.

Practically born with boxing gloves due to her dad being a very good boxer, she was always arbitrating at least one game per week and would sometimes fly to other states to arbitrate important games. That way, she could get a good amount of money, something like 2500$ a month if Arthur remembered well, and help her parents pay both her studies and her quite spacious apartment. She wasn't arbitrating very important matches yet but she was respected in the boxing world, she was a great referee and everyone knew that it was dangerous to piss her off. Some had scars and bruises to prove it. Arthur had accompanied her once and that was all it took to disgust him from this savage sport.

"Nope! My _boxing madness_ has been moved to Saturday, so I guess that's yay for you! I know how _essential _I am to people." The Hungarian girl said in a teasing tone.

"Yes, right. I really don't know what I would do without your beautiful presence enlightening my every Wednesday afternoons." Arthur answered sarcastically, emphasizing and exaggerating every word.

"Hey! Don't give me your sarcasm bullshit!" Elizabeta laughed, earning a small chuckle from her Briton friend.

"I'm afraid you're spending too much time with Gilbert, Liz. You're starting to talk like that idiot!"

"Don't even get me started on that jackass." Elizabeta snorted, laughing softly. "He's a real pain in the ass sometimes!"

Arthur smiled at her friend's comment. Gilbert and Elizabeta had been dating for 3 years and a half now and even though they were always criticizing and teasing the other, the love between the two was obvious to even the thickest human being on this planet. Even if Arthur didn't approve Gilbert exhausting and exuberant behavior, he had to admit that they were a cute couple. Sometimes he even envied them.

"So anyway I've got to go! I still have a lot of work to do!" the Hungarian said in an exhausted tone. "I really hate med school sometimes!"

"Well it would be less exhausting if you didn't go to all those stupid boxing games."

"Hey, fuck off! I like my stupid boxing games! Anyway, I really have to go, see you tomorrow!" the girl said hastily before hanging up, leaving the Brit alone with his two cats.

Arthur sighed, putting the phone on the table in front of him. He really wished that tomorrow would come sooner; this apartment was really getting too lonely for his liking.

* * *

It was still dark when Arthur got out of his apartment. When he stepped on the pavement he was met with wild snowflakes dancing and twirling in the cold air of February. He sighed, white mist escaping his mouth, and put his gloved hands in his pockets. The sight of a snowy New York that early in the morning had stopped being beautiful for Arthur a long time ago; after all he had been living here with Francis for 6 years.

6 years was such a long time. Sometimes he wondered how he had even managed to survive all those years. Well, he knew for the first couple of years but those were long gone and the lasts were far from happy. Arthur didn't know who to blame for those awful years, him or this brand new life in bloody New York City. After all, everything started because they moved here where Francis and that he started his _exciting _and _fantastic_ new life on his own.

"So bloody fantastic…" Arthur hissed bitterly.

Sometimes he would curse at this stupid American town with its huge building and its distressed atmosphere but holding the city responsible for Arthur's misfortune was just wishful thinking. After all, the city wasn't the one that screwed up his relationship with Francis. Francis and he were the only responsible.

Arthur entered the underground, the temperature rising a little and allowing him to take off his gloves and pass a hand through his hair, making the remaining snowflakes fall in the process. Well at least he was sure to not meet that annoying yankee since it was Wednesday and the only day he saw that annoying blonde head was Tuesday. A small smile of satisfaction passed through Arthur's lips. He may not have his phone back but it was worth tenth time more than the view of that American bloke.

When the train arrived, he entered it and found a seat next to the window as usual. The underground was pretty empty at that time of the day at the exception of a few passengers. Arthur would always wake up earlier than he should just to enjoy this moment of silence and peace. After a few years spent in New York, he had quickly learned at which hours the underground was almost devoid of any passengers. He closed his eyes, lulled by the sound of the train. Arthur was almost about to drift into sleep when he heard a loud and heavy "thump" next to him.

Arthur shot his eyes open and turned around, only to face a pair of blue eyes inches away from his own. The Brit instantly jerked away, his face turning into a flamboyant mixture of revolt and surprise.

"Sorry all the other seats were taken." The man said nonchalantly, gesturing towards an almost empty train. Arthur opened his mouth a few times in shock and disbelief, glancing both at the artist from yesterday and the empty seats he was pointing at.

"No they are not! There are at least 5 empty seats!" The Englishman blurted out, his eyebrows knitting together in rage. "Now move your fat arse from this seat before I punch you!"

"Well someone has taken too much vitamins this morning! Seriously are you always that loud in the morning?" The man said, frowning. "Anyway, Arthur, have you thought about our little date?" He added with a smirk.

"There will be no bloody-! Wait, how do you even know my name! Are you stalking me?!" Arthur exclaimed, surprise and fury both taking a hold on the Briton.

"Well it's really nice to meet you too, Arthur! The name's Alfred F. Jones!" the other said, holding out a hand for Arthur to shake, only earning a slap on the precise hand he was extending from the Briton.

"Leave me alone you creeper!" Arthur hissed, failing at discouraging the American who, pouting, took out Arthur's phone from his pocket.

"But don't you want your phone back? He's been really lonely you know. Being left alone in the hands of a monster like me has been really rough for this poor little guy here." He said, agitating Arthur's phone in front of the Brit's face who looked for a few seconds at his phone, obviously frustrated. The Brit extended his hand in an attempt to get his phone back only to see it move even farther from his sight.

"Ah ah." The American said, moving one finger from left to right. "You're not touching it again before you agree to go on a date with me."

"I will never go on a date with you. I'm already taken anyway." Arthur said, rolling his eyes and giving up on trying to have his phone back. He decided to ignore the man by turning his gaze towards the window.

"What difference does it make?" Alfred asked casually, making an outraged Arthur turn around.

"It makes _all_ the difference!" Arthur pestered.

"Not to me." The other added.

"Leave me alone and go back to your whores, I'm not one of them." The blonde said with a sigh, turning away his gaze from the young man sitting next to him.

"I know that." Alfred stated more calmly, making Arthur raise an eyebrow in suspicion and scan the man next to him for a few seconds.

"You don't sound like you know it." Arthur finally hissed, diverting his gaze once again.

"I just know that you're Arthur Kirkland, the man who goes to work every Tuesday at 10 in the morning. I also know that you're an English teacher, that I have your phone, that you're incredibly beautiful and that your boyfriend makes you feel miserable."

Arthur froze in his seat at the latest statement. How did he even know about Francis? The train went silent for a few minutes, Arthur feeling too shock to form coherent words and Alfred waiting for the other one to answer. The atmosphere suddenly felt heavy and tense and Arthur felt his stomach tie in a knot. _Damn that blasted yankee!_

"How do you even know about my boyfriend?" the English teacher asked in a small voice.

"I've always been told that I suck at reading the atmosphere, but I know how to recognize sad people." He said before allowing the silence to fill the train again. They just sat there quietly, ignoring the few conversations that the other passengers were having or the too loud headphones of the teenager sitting behind them. After a few quiet seconds, Alfred spoke up to break the silence again. "I also heard you argue with him on the phone once. It sounded like those little couple fights have been going on for a while." He admitted in a softer way, every trace of arrogance leaving his voice. It wasn't the cocky man that liked to tease and anger him. It was just a man sitting there and waiting for Arthur to process the information like the Alfred from two minutes ago had never existed.

The Brit stayed frozen in his seat, looking at the ground and not knowing if he felt more shameful, shocked or sad. The fact that a complete stranger had seen through his mask, knew something about his private life he wasn't especially proud of, made him feel sick. Or maybe it was just the fact to be reminded how bad his relationship with Francis had become that made him feel like that. Either way, Arthur just wanted to run away and hide, and the American's presence had nothing to do with those feelings for once. He could have just answered that every couple argued, but Alfred was right, those "little couple fights" had been going for too long to be just a little argument along the way.

He clenched his fist tightly on the fabric of his pants. What was he supposed to answer? He didn't know. Who was he to talk about his relationship with Francis like that and expose to all those uncomfortable feelings? Arthur just kept fixing an invisible point on the ground, hoping that something would break that suffocating atmosphere. Even if it was a bloody flying elephant, he just wanted this moment to stop. Apparently, Alfred got the message and stood up when the monotonous voice of the train announced the next stop. Arthur didn't even throw a glance at Alfred when he got up from his seat, only looking at the grey ground. He just wanted all those bad feelings to go away and never come back, and if he wanted this to happen, he certainly didn't need the annoying blonde he had barely met yesterday to stay here.

"The day that boyfriend of yours stops making you feel miserable, I will give up on you." Alfred simply added before disappearing, leaving Arthur alone again.

**A/N :**

**I wanted to fit his lunch with Elizabeta in this chapter but I will just leave it like this because I'm really too lazy to write more x) Don't worry, Liz will come in the next chapter! :m **

**Lots of hugs and kisses, I love you for reading my story! ^0^ You are the BEST! (GAME OF THRONES IS COMING BAAAAAACK ON MARCH 31 FOOOLKS :m)**

**And now, to end this wonderful A/N, a word from my dog who is so gentlemanly trying to step on my laptop: **

**Tgfghyuhjddjssjkldfskfjklfjk lfsjkezghnjfjnfjklcc (He says that he appreciates the support you're giving me and that he would like you to review! :m Yes that's what he is saying, why?)**

**Reply to some reviews : **

**Beastie : Naaww thank you! :3 I know right? :D Arrogant and cocky Alfred is so much fun to write! x) Ah sorry! Alfred isn't a proper "artist" since he only draws in the underground so I was a bit afraid to write "artist" but look! I used "artist" in this chapter! :P Thank you so much for reading my story and pointing out some mistakes! :D I know my English isn't the best so... x') Thank you! :D I love you for reading and reviewing this! :3**

**Somebody : Thank you ! :D You are a très magnifique person :m (French power mwahaha! ;P)**


End file.
